Choosing life!

Living in hope

One of the most common words used in the English language must be the word WHY?

The dictionary defines ‘why’ as follows: for what reason, purpose or cause? An expression of surprise, disagreement, indignation”.

The majority of us struggle with the question of ‘why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” Incredible that, as I was typing this, my 12 year old came into my office and read me part of an essay she had written. The title was “Why?” I listened in amazement as my child verbalized this age old question.

Why? Why would God make the world if He knew that it would be destroyed? Why would He make the world if life for some people in this world would be destroyed or hurt for no reason? For a little child will lose its mother and be like a lamb alone in a field, hurt and broken inside. Why? This child who has done no wrong has now lost its mother. Why would God let this child suffer? Why? – Emma Jane Curry

Often, the answer to that question has got nothing whatsoever to do with God. It has to do with bad decisions the government of the country has made, or wrong choices our parents or grand-parents may have made or even the consequences of our own wrong doing. What about Global warming and climate change in the world today and the effects of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels or from deforestation? Man is responsible for that not God.

God created us because He wanted a relationship with us. He gave us freedom of choice because, if He had not, we would be robotic creatures unable to form a relationship or interact with Him.

I heard the following story the other day and it highlighted for me the verse “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose”. (Romans 8:28)

There was a king who had a devoted servant. This servant loved the Lord and was continually praising God for His goodness. The king and the servant went hunting one day and a lion attacked the king. The servant managed to fight the lion off but, alas, the king lost his index finger. The lion had managed to bite it off! The king was really upset and what made it worse was the fact that the servant told him he should be grateful to God for sparing his life. All the king could think of was the pain and the fact that his finger was missing. He could not believe that his servant was praising God for this so he had the servant thrown into jail. A few days later the king went hunting and was captured by a tribe who offered human sacrifices to their gods. The king was bound and laid on an altar in preparation for the sacrificial ritual to begin when the tribe suddenly noticed that he had a finger missing. This caused great consternation as it was forbidden to sacrifice anyone who was ‘incomplete’. They cut his cords and allowed him to go free. When he finally made it back to his village, the first thing he did was to go straight to the jail and set his servant free. He explained to the servant that if it had not been for the missing finger he would be dead. The servant then proceeded to give all thanks and glory to God! The king listened for a little while and then posed this question, “If your God is so good and amazing

WHY did He allow you to be thrown into jail?” The servant replied, “Because, my king, if I had been hunting with you, I too would have been captured. And when they discovered that you had a part missing I would have been sacrificed in your stead! Thank God I was in jail!”

We have no idea what the future holds but I do know that our time here on earth is very short compared to eternity! If we accept Jesus as our Saviour we will be spending eternity with God and the things that we experienced here on earth will fade into insignificance.

When the question whybesets me I think about the answer Oswald Chambers once gave his wife. They had just been to visit a friend who was suffering from typhoid fever and was close to death and she asked, “I wonder what God is going to do?” Oswald replied, “I don’t care what God does. It’s what God IS that I care about”.

When the word whyreverberates in my head I hold onto these words that God spoke:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior ……Do not be afraid, for I am with you”. (Isaiah 43:1-3, 5)

Dallas Willard was once asked how he prayed. He answered that he prayed the Our Father every morning before his feet hit the ground. I can just imagine Satan’s reaction whenever Dallas Willard put his feet on the ground in the morning. It must have been something like this “Oh hell! He is getting up – take cover!”

Prayer and faith go together. You cannot have the one without the other.

In Biblical terms prayer is a personal communication or request addressed to God and faith is a strong or unshakeable belief in God without proof or evidence.

“Prayer is a necessity to man – it is a universal phenomenon; but while not exclusively Christian, it is most real in Christianity because the Christian life is a life of fellowship with God. In Bilbical religion the relationship between God and man is genuinely interpersonal. Prayer is essentially communion; God desires man’s fellowship, and man needs the friendship of God.1”

What follows is an example of how Dallas Willard prayed the Our Father. I am writing this from memory and have added a few of my own personal thoughts – this is basically a guideline of how he prayed. You can add your own relevant requests, praise, thanks-giving to the basic outline. You can also spend a lot more time on each section!

Our Father

My God, my Dad, my Lord, my Pappa, my Father

whom art in Heaven

You are high above the earth. You are all seeing. You are omniscient. You know all about me and yet you still love me

hallowed be Thy name

You are majestic and wonderful. I praise your Holy name. Your name is powerful and mighty.

your kingdom come

Lord, please fill me with your Holy Spirit. May I be your hands and your feet here on earth. May people see your Kingdom in me.

your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven

I pray Lord that I, together with all other Believers, will be able to love others in a way that will ensureYour will being done here on earth through us.

Give us this day our daily bread

Thank you Lord for the abundance that you shower upon me. For the home I live in – let me not take it for granted. Let me share my abundance with others. Make me aware of the needs of those around me.

and forgive us our trespasses

Lord, please forgive me for not living a life of love. For wanting my own way. For judging others. For repeatedly doing what I know is wrong in your sight.

as we forgive those who trespass against us

I need your help to forgive those who have hurt me. Who have made me feel that I am not worthy. Who judge and criticize me. Help me Lord, to be able to forgive myself for the wrong I have done.

Lead us not into temptation

Please help me to be satisfied with what I have. To be thankful for all I have.

Thank you Lord that nothing can ever befall me that you are not aware of. That no matter what happens you have already prepared a way out – help me to trust, grant me more faith to know that you are all powerful. I glorify your mighty name. I praise you.

Amen

So be it. I go into this day with my hope and my faith firmly placed in You, my God, my Lord, my Saviour.

May each one of us be the kind of person that when our feet touch the ground in the morning, Satan says “Oh hell, they are up. Take cover!”

We sit and weep in vain, while the voice of the Almighty tells us to never stop moving upward and onward. (Streams in the Desert)”

God is in Heaven and all is well with my world. I am walking on the Upper Road and before I turn to the right or the left I will stop and listen for God’s voice, saying “This is the way; walk in it”. (Isaiah 30:21)

Tomorrow I will continue my journey upward in the knowledge that it is through the trials, the hardships, the pain, the disappointments, the joy, the happiness, the blessings – that it is through all these things I am growing into a woman God can be proud of and rejoice over.

It is because of my past – the good past and the not so good past – that I have searched my soul and assessed my character and realized that I needed to change. I have more empathy towards others and judge far less. I am able to forgive easier (especially myself), I am able to write about His faithfulness. I am able to love deeper because the hurt and pain have somehow shaped me into a more caring person.

I have witnessed that He is a God who still performs miracles, that He is a God with the most wonderful sense of humor. I am able to be more open and honest with others. AND it is because of this past that I am able to look forward to the future with joy and hope and courage because my future is encompassed by Him.